


Surviving Unplugged

by Colourblindzebra (Shocotate)



Category: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Genre: 1980s, 2010s, Gen, Homelessness, King Candy being nice, Maybe - Freeform, Pre-Canon, arcade games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-30
Updated: 2013-03-30
Packaged: 2017-12-07 01:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/742522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shocotate/pseuds/Colourblindzebra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being homeless isn't so bad, as long as they stick together, even if that means being stuck as Bubble Dragons. A oneshot of Bub and Bob after Bubble Bobble gets unplugged.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surviving Unplugged

**Author's Note:**

> First Wreck-It Ralph fic, it was a ton of fun, but now I need to go to bed x_x

**November 1988**

 “Hundred floors down, that was a lot of work, ate a lot, and died a lot of course,” The bubble dragon a bit smaller than him glanced away with a sheepish smile. “I’m not quite used to that yet. But Bob was with me the whole way, and it was worth it in the end, just to see Betty again, even if just for a little while.” He motioned towards the blue dragon nursing at his glass, who nodded into it with a toothy grin once he caught him looking, chirping a ‘Don’t forget about Patty either!’. That Bob wasn’t his Bob though, different, spikes and paws both purple.

 Bub just smiled at their optimism, to have succeeded in their goals so soon after being whatever counted as plugged in to them. They were young and fortunate. 

 “Don’t worry about it, you still have time, the gamers’ll get a lot better. You’ll see her again, I’m sure of it.” He couldn’t really understand it, when he thought about it, the idea of living where only a few gamers were ever there, not like the bustle of the arcade where there could be dozens of different faces everyday. This Bub and Bob said they came from the _Bubble Bobble_ for something called a Nintendo Entertainment System, which was different from the arcade somehow, and Bub had chosen to affectionately name them N-Bub and N-Bob so as to stop the others becoming confused, a couple of different colours aside.  

 The blue bubble dragon with little dark pink paws and spikes of a lighter blue, his Bob, hopped off his barstool and pushed N-Bob’s closer along, both growing bored and eager to join in their big brothers’ conversation.

 "Hi you two,” N-Bub called to them. “what were you doing all the way over there?” N-Bob put down his glass, while Bob went off to drag his own barstool along.

 “We were just talking to that elf over there,” The elf, the Bub thought he recognised from one of the plugs at the far end of Game Central Station, turned around and waved from across the bar, knowing them at least. “He seemed like a nice guy.”

 If Bub had any eyebrows to raise he would have raised one.

 “You were talking? I didn’t know he could speak Bubblese.” Though the Bubble Dragons could understand how humans talked, having been human once themselves, English didn’t agree with their bubble blowing capabilities, and all that came out was a series of high pitched calls and squeaks, only understandable to other dragons and anyone else who they’d taught the language. Bub could still write out English well enough though, and that was fine by him if he needed to speak to anyone who wasn’t well versed in Bubblese. After two years of being a bubble dragon and only having had his ‘Happy Ending’ with Bob thirty times he was more than used to it.

 “He sounded ok at it. Bob, your Bob, was teaching him a few words. Well, he said that if we’re so good at bubbling things we should go over to his game and help him with his giant centipede problem.” Another grin, and N-Bob took another gulp of his root beer.

 “Aww, he’s just kidding. I heard Centipede is actually nice, he just doesn’t leave his game much.” 

 N-Bub looked rather perplexed at the idea, whether of a bad guy being nice, or of whatever a centipede was in general Bub wasn’t sure.

 “Oh, really? We don’t have any centipedes back home, but we’ve got a lion, and his friend Charlie, I think he’s something called a clown…or something, and lots of other animals too. Everyone was really welcoming when we got there.” It was a fluke at most that they’d even ended up here. One of the gamers had brought their new NES in to compare arcade versions with, and left it plugged in for tonight. 

 N-Bub stood up on his stool, hopping up and down so everyone could see him. “Hey, Mr. Tapper, another root beer for me and my brother please.” They were far too fascinated with root beer than what seemed sensible, when they’d only learned about it that evening. Maybe back home they didn’t have a Tapper’s to go to after gaming hours, and feared they’d never have any more of it again once they went back home. “Do you two want one as well?” Bob clambered back onto his stool and shook his head, and Bub did the same. N-Bub understood, and just signalled for two glasses, which came skidding along the bar almost instantly. 

 “It must be fun being a new game. We have a new game over here too, it was plugged in about a week ago, a racing game, I think, Mr. Litwak’s been trying to get it for a while. I guess everyone wants one. Felix said he was going to go welcome them, but I haven’t seen anyone from it yet.” Bob finally got close enough to them to join the conversation, though he did so rather reluctantly, still a little cautious.

“So… Other Bob was telling me that you guys have only been plugged in for two weeks, and you’ve already won once? That’s amazing!” N-Bub blushed a little at the compliment, patches of pink forming where yellow blobs should have been, as they were on Bub. “How did you do it?”

“Well, it was tough, but I wouldn’t say we did all the work. The gamer’s a bit crafty; he’s always finding his way around things. When we won he…well…” N-Bub giggled at the thought as he recalled it, looking very mischievous indeed. “…he found a cheat.” Both Bub and Bob gave him a look, not really understanding what that was or how one would go about cheating in their game, but it didn’t sound very good. “I mean, we made it through about eighty levels, so it isn’t _that_ bad…but then he used a password, I think, and we went straight to level ninety-nine.”

 “That _does_ sound interesting. Bub and I don’t have any passwords here since our game takes coins, you’re really lucky you can win so often because of using cheats and things. I bet you enjoy it.”

 “Yep, it’s kinda fun. The gamer back home likes using cheats and things. I heard that there’s special kinda code going around from one of the pilots from… _Gradius_? He really likes it, and said it went like…umm…” N-Bob stood on his stool and went though the motions with his paws as he described the code, “up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right…” but he hesitated as he got near the end, unsure how to express it. “…B, A, then you press Start.”

 “B, A? Start? What’re those?” As far as Bub was concerned there was only ‘bubble’, ‘jump’ and the joystick, none of this ‘A’ and ‘B’ nonsense. Then again, it sounded like all games for the NES needed to share a monitor and controls, so it made sense that there needed to be one system for everyone, however confusing.

“Well…we use B to blow bubbles, and A to jump, so maybe the people in _Gradius_ use B for their bubble attacks, and A to…fly? You’re right; I’m not explaining it very well. Here, I’ll write it out for you.” N-Bub handed N-Bob a napkin and a pencil, and he began scribbling the code down.

Bub picked up the napkin, scanning of it with a hint of curiosity. Bob blew a bubble beside him and hopped on to get a better look.

_↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← →_ _B A START_

“Hm, like that? That’s funny, isn’t it? We can only go left and right, so the code won’t work for us, but it’s very interesting.” Bub kept hold of the napkin; he wouldn’t want to offend them, even if it wouldn’t do them any good in the arcade. He slid it under a spare glass for safe keeping. “I’ll put it here and we’ll pick it up later. Mr. Litwak will be here in a bit; he might unplug the NES early.”

“Hm, what  time is it? Wow, 7 o’clock, we need to go.” N-Bub knocked back his half-a-glass in one. “Mr. Tapper! Can we take some of this root beer to go? We need to tell all our friends about it back home!”

“Tapper doesn’t understand Bubblese that well, but I’m sure he won’t mind, as long as you don’t take the glasses. We can escort you back; the station’s easy to get lost in.” Tapper slid another four glasses along, walking across with them.

“You lads sure you haven’t had enough yet? This your last lot?” Bub nodded, giving a little wave goodbye so he knew they were leaving. They left a message that they were going to bring the glasses back, and left without another word.

Outside the connection between Game Central Station and the NES plug the four of them poured the root beer into a secure enough bubble, and the smaller dragons carried it along as they went. They might not meet again, but it was wonderful to meet other Bubble Dragons nonetheless. It made their jobs a lot more fun too, now that they had some friendly competition from outside the arcade, to ensure their game remained ever popular. 

They waved their counterparts off with wide grins, hoping that somehow they would see each other again, and headed back to Tappers, holding two glasses each between their paws.

The napkin was gone when they got back to Tapper’s, but Bub and Bob thought nothing of it. The code wouldn’t work in the arcade anyway.

* * *

**January 2011**

Twenty-four years wasn’t a bad run by any means. Sure, they weren’t _Fix it Felix Jr.,_ coming up to thirty next year, but they had been content with it, never wishing for anything more and expecting to be around for what could feel like forever. But all things came to their end, and their game’s age didn’t mean anything now. It didn’t make it any easier either.

They all went scurrying as fast as they could, Benzos, Bonnie-Bos, Boa-Boas, Blubbas, Borises, Bonners, all of them huddling in their individual clusters of ten, carrying a piece of fruit or two each. Baron Von Blubba stayed at the back, the skeletal beluga whale ushering them all forward, ensuring none were left behind while Bub and Bob were concerned with dashing up and down the line, counting everyone, checking and double checking. Sixty-three, that’s how many of them there should have been, including him and Bob and the Baron. Some of the Bonners had argued, trying to take the large cut-out that served as Grumple-Gromit during arcade hours with them, for nostalgic reasons, but it had been so long that they’d forgotten where they’d even put it, and time was too short to go looking. No Betty, or Patty, or their parents, of course. None of those things were real either.

Maybe they should have expected it, watching all the gamers pass them by day after day, while they flocked to what was new and exciting, forgetting all about them. They could have tried harder; the enemies could have been even more challenging, or was that the problem? Had they been too harsh?  Had that driven them all away? Or had they just grown trite and repetitive? It didn’t matter now, there was no point in trying to find anyone to blame. It wouldn’t change anything.

Mr. Litwak had given them a fair enough warning that morning, being the first person to walk up to the cabinet in several weeks, giving them one last game, seeing them off personally, talking to himself and announcing _loudly_ that he’d be unplugging the game in ‘about an hour’.  

They’d wasted no time.

Everyone ignored the bubble capsule train, settling for just running along the wire. Well, almost everyone. Bub and Bob watched them go, taking a seat on the second and third train carriage for old time’s sake, the front carriage filled to bursting with lightning potions and electric bubbles. They needed to stay safe outside their game, just like Sonic was always telling them, and the carriage itself would make a nice bed too, Bub thought. The Baron settled down in the fourth carriage, his constant, white smile nearly twitched as the train pulled away from the station for the last time.

“It was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it?” Bub tried to nod, but couldn’t even force it, not with Bob shivering and clinging to him like he never wanted to let go.

Once the train screeched to a halt the Baron helped them dislodge the first carriage, and soon enough they had closed the green bubble carriage, latched it tight, and begun to roll it and its contents along with them. The Baron floated off, mentioning something about waiting with the others outside for when ‘it’ happened.

A barrier kept Bub and Bob from passing into the station, a red grid flashing up and pushing them back.

“Stay where you are, sirs, security check.” With a softer blue flicker the Surger Protector appeared on the other side of the barrier.

“Please let us through, we’re in a hurry.”

“Name...”

“Bubblun, from _Bubble Bobble_ , and this is my brother Bob, uh, Bobblun.”

“Where you folks heading?”

“We don’t know yet. We’re getting unplugged.”

“I see. I’ll get this game sectioned off as soon as possible.” He looked up from his clipboard at the train carriage. “What’s that ya got there?”

“Oh…it’s just some electric bubbles. Y’know, for protection. We need to keep everyone safe outside our game.”

“No can do, sir. In light of the circumstances the food your friends took is fine, but that amount of electricity could short out the whole station if you brought it in, and I’m sure you wouldn’t want something like that on your conscience.” He looked over the bubbles once again. “Even one is too much of a risk. Leave the bubble where it is please, and come on through before the plug gets pulled.” 

Knowing there was no time to argue they gave in, and pushed the carriage further down into the wire, trudging through the _Bubble Bobble_ entrance, out into Game Central Station for what would undoubtedly be the final time. They watched the carriage, and the rest of the train be ripped away into the abyss with the rest of their game as the plug was removed.

“What’re we gonna do now, Bub? Where’ll we go?” Bob whispered it, shivering. Bub had to remain calm; they were all depending on him to know what to do. Well, at least he knew _exactly_ where they could go.

Five minutes later the whole congregation of the sixty-three of them were marching along the wire to _Bust-a-Move Again,_ where the other Bub and Bob of the arcade lived. They’d only met a few times, but Bub liked to think of them as Puzzle-Bub and Puzzle-Bob.

“What’s this? Why are all you guys here? Is it our anniversary?” Puzzle-Bub looked utterly dumfounded, trying to stop the crowd from moving any closer to the elaborate wooden structures that framed their bubble shooting contraptions.

 “Our plug got pulled.” Bob sniffled.

 "Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” 

 Bub stepped forward from the group, being sincere and succinct to the younger Bubble Dragons, no sugar coating.

 “Please can these guys stay here with you, they have no where else to go. They won’t be any trouble, I promise.” Surely Puzzle-Bub was not so unreasonable as to deny the dozens of now homeless characters a place to stay, even if only temporarily.

 “We’d be happy to let them stay. They’ll be safe here, no one dies in our game.”

 “Thank you. We really appreciate it.” Hearing the news the five dozen enemies let out a grateful cheer and streamed out in an orderly enough fashion, integrating themselves with the others seamlessly. It was like they weren’t from another game at all. After watching them for a few moments Puzzle-Bub started fidgeting, looking between them, unsure of what to say.

 “So…where you two off to now?”

 “What do you mean…? Are we not allowed to stay too?”

 “Well…we don’t really…need…”

 “You can’t let them stay here, Bub, they’re gonna get in the way.” Puzzle-Bob called over as he popped the top row of bubbles in one with a practice shot. “The enemies can stay, we always need more bubbles, but not them. We don’t need another Bub and Bob, we’re fine as we are!” 

 “Bob’s right. This game only needs one Bub and Bob. We’re sorry that you lost your game, but that doesn’t mean you can live here.” A sudden suspicious tinge seeped into Puzzle-Bub’s gaze, and he grew bolder, sizing them up. “Don’t you dare think that you can come here and replace us.”

 “Yeah, you aren’t going Turbo and invading our home!” Hissed Puzzle-Bob, turning from his place rechecking the bubble firing mechanism, his bright yellow spines bristling.

 “No, no you’re wrong. We aren’t going to go Turbo.”  How could they accuse them of such a horrible thing? They hadn’t even been around when _that_ happened; they didn’t know what it was like, and yet here they were thinking that they could do such things. “Please, we just want somewhere safe to stay. We won’t bother you.” Bob was clinging to him again, nearly hiding behind him, tears welling up in his eyes.

 “Look, the arcade’s gonna open soon, you need to go.” Puzzle-Bob scowled, shoed them away and did his best attempt at blowing a bubble to warn them, to no avail as the trait wasn’t a true part of their code, but Bub and Bob were still at a clear disadvantage, and it wasn’t worth running the risk of dying over their stubbornness. “We don’t want you here, we won’t tell you again.”

 Bub formed a dirty scowl of his own, shaking his head in disgust.

 “Fine, fine we’ll go. You just make sure you take care of our friends, better than you treated us or they’ll go running themselves!” Without another word on the matter, Bub and Bob left _Bust-a-Move Again_ to fend for themselves, as long as they had each other and stuck together everything would be fine. Being homeless couldn’t be _that_ bad.

* * *

**March 2011**

“Don’t be strangers, you two. You’re always welcome here after arcade hours.” Frogger called after them as they left on the train. He was so nice to them, letting them stay there when the arcade was closed, and even letting them drink from his pond when they got thirsty. Tapper’s was no place for those without any purpose; it was only for characters to go to relax after a _hard day’s gaming_. The root beer had never agreed with Bob anyway, so it was for the best they keep away. Water was probably a healthier alternative anyway.

The claxon blared, and the gentle voice of the intercom told everyone to return to their games for opening time. Even after all this time there was a temptation, a hope that the message still applied to them. But it didn’t, it never would again, and they’d just have to get used to that. 

Wandering along Game Central Station, right to the very corner at the back, Bub and Bob found their box. It wasn’t really _their_ box, more of a donation that now served as a bed for them both. It had been a funny sort of day when they got it; they’d spotted a strange man from a game Mr. Litwak had imported from somewhere. Bub didn’t know what language he spoke, but he’d been crawling about under his box, and had cast it off for them when a ! flashed over his head, before hurrying back to his own game. They tried to thank him as best they could while he was dashing away, and they’d kept the box ever since.

A pretty lady with blonde hair walked by, and as she caught sight of them she knelt down, even though she should have been in her game already.

“You poor dears, I have seen you around here for a while. Here, I’ll take you to BurgerTime after the arcade closes, my treat. I need to get going, but please don’t be shy to visit. Here’s the game I’m from.” She jotted down something, and handed them a slip of paper and the pencil she’d used, before carrying on before she got _really_ late. Bub looked over the sheet. _Princess Peach, Mario Kart Arcade GP._

They huddled in the corner with their box, and Bub helped Bob into it so he could rest, he could keep watch for a while until he was sure they’d be safe in this spot. Soon enough the Station was completely deserted, and Bub enjoyed the silence somewhat.

_“…not even in the top nine…”_

What was that? No one should have been out during gaming hours.

_“…Sugar frosted little fre… running me off the road…!”_

Someone was there, if Bub squinted he could see him, quite a ways off, and from the voice he’d assume it was a he.

_“…wouldn’t know REAL driving if it smashed into ‘em…”_

And the voice didn’t sound very happy. Bub stood up and tried to get a better look.

 _“I should make them all gl…”_ The person stopped talking. What if he’d seen him looking? It was none of Bub’s business after all. Not wanting to risk it Bub ran back to the box and hid beside it.

The sound of footsteps got closer, and after what felt like unbearably like forever Bub mustered up to courage to peek around the side to see who it was.

It was a kind enough looking old man, with wisps of grey hair here and there. He wore a purple coat with coattails and a white waistcoat, and puffed out trousers. On the top of his head was a shiny gold crown. He must have been someone very important. 

“Hello there, little guy.” The man spoke with a lisp. How strange. He hadn’t had one when he was talking to himself. “How did thuch adorable _Pop-Dragon_ like you two end up in a place like thith?”

“B-Bubble Dragon.” It slipped out- the want to correct him, even though the man most likely didn’t know Bubblese, his appearance was far too detailed for that. Still… _Bubble Dragons…_

Maybe there wasn’t any curse, maybe they weren’t humans after all, just Bubble Dragons dreaming that they could be. The Bub and Bob from _Bust-a-Move Again_ , in the few times they’d met, never mentioned ever being human. At such an admittance Bub almost accepted it, pointing with a forlorn sigh to the wooden plank Frogger had given them a few months before, that they’d scrawled their message on as it lay against the box: _Feed us we’re homeless._ Being homeless only had a few implications, all of them terrible, and it didn’t take him long to guess right.

“How awful. Thtill, don’t look tho glum, I thhould thank you for being here tho we can cheer each other up. But you probably don’t want my thankth, do you? Oh, I know, have thome candy inthtead!” Seemingly out of nowhere the man pulled out several handfuls of tiny candy pieces and dropped them in a pile on the floor. Bub smiled his biggest grin, doing a little twirl.

“Thank you!” Remembering he couldn’t understand him, Bub wrote on the slip of paper Princess Peach had given him. _Thanks, I’m Bub. Who’re you?_

“ _Me?_ Oh, why, hoo hoo, I’m King Candy, the ruler of _Sugar Rush_ , I’m thure you’ve heard of it.” Bub might have, but he didn’t want to look impolite to the King by being so unsure, and began to write a compliment down on the paper, but the King lost interest, becoming far more interested in his claws.

“Oh, wow, look at thothe paws. What a lovely colour, what do you call it?”

What an odd question. Truth be told Bub didn’t think about the colour of his scales much, after twenty odd years they weren’t going to change, and he’d got used to them as they were without assigning particular shades to them. Still, he couldn’t be rude, and thought it over.

“I…I guess you’d call them…pink …cerise, maybe?”  

“Thalmon. Yes, yes, thothe darling little pawth of yourth are definitely thalmon. Thour Bill would agree with me if he wath here, I asthure you.” Bub didn’t know what a Sour Bill was, or why it was so knowledgeable about the correct shades of things, but didn’t bother questioning it.

Bob popped his head up from the box at all the noise, yawning.

“HeheHAH, oh, look, hehoo, another one.” The King laughed, a sudden, shrill, nearly hysterical yelp of a laugh, and Bub winced the tiniest bit at the sound. “Hey there.” Bob murmured a hello and put on his best bashful smile. “I can’t be leaving you out now, can I?” From the seemingly endless pockets inside his coat he produced and offered out a larger, flatter, rounder sweet with a heart pattern in its centre. After so many fruitless rewards from his attempts at his ‘cute face’ Bob wasn’t taking any chances. He took a cautious, drowsy sniff through drooping eyes, before clamping his fangs down on it and dragging it back into the box without a word. Even though it was against his better judgement Bub decided not to scold his brother on his bad manners, being tired and hungry all the time didn’t help the upholding of social standards.

“Sorry, he’s a bit shy.” By now Bub had completely forgotten about writing his messages out in English, conversing smoothly with the King even though Bubblese was a very rare language to come by outside of the very ‘retro’ characters in the arcade. There had to be a good reason for him knowing it though. Who knows, maybe Kings were programmed to know more languages, or maybe his game was from their publisher too, so he knew the language of other games. _Sugar Rush_ was from 1997…and the last Taito game in the arcade game that Mr Litwak had bought was _Bust-a-Move Again_ …in 1995. Maybe theirs had gone out of business and _Sugar Rush_ ’s publisher had bought their company. TobiKomi, Taito, it was possible. To a Bubble Dragon it sounded more than a reasonable explanation, and Bub accepted it as the truth for now.

“That’s understandable, being all alone out here, with no friends.” The lisp slipped away without Bub even noticing. “Hey, that’s it; you should come live in _Sugar Rush_! You can have all the candy you could ever ask for, and you’ll be safe in the audience podiums watching all the racers everyday. You would love it, playing in the fields with the magical Unicandycorn, or frolicking around in my Fungeon.”

“Fungeon?”

“Yes, Fungeon. It’s our Fun…Fudge Dungeon. It’s what we call our… fudge factory over in _Sugar Rush_. All the fudge you want, any time you want. It’s a play on words…” When he couldn’t muster up a forced laugh Bub tried to pass it off as a wordplay that just didn’t work in Bubblese, rather than it not being _that_ amusing. 

“Well, I can escort you to _Sugar Rush_ immediately if you wish. You can have your own little room in the castle. I’m sure it beats living in that box waiting on donations. What do you say?” Bob tumbled out of the box, trying to look more awake and hanging onto Bub’s side so he could stay standing.

“That is a very kind offer, King Candy, we greatly appreciate it. But…” There was always going to be a ‘but’ in there somewhere, there had to be. It seemed like an offer that was too good to be true, but game-jumping into a game they didn’t understand or know anything about except that it involved racing (very dangerous), even for a Bubble Dragon, didn’t sound too sensible. They’d resigned to their decision even before giving each other a glance.

“My brother and I don’t like cars, we’ve seen how dangerous they can be in Frogger, and a lot when we were younger in the old games, and if the cars are racing then they might crash. We don’t want to risk dying outside of our own game. We’re sorry, but we can’t go to _Sugar Rush_ with you. Thank you for the candy though; you must be a wonderful King.”

Bub hoped that they wouldn’t regret turning down such an offer, but there was no two ways about it, at least for the moment. The King paused, looking them over incredulously, as if the possibility of them even _daring_ to refuse had never crossed his mind.

“…That’s it? You…heh, you aren’t even going to talk about it?”

“We really are sorry; we didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No, no, it’s fine, go back to living in that box.” He scoffed. “Anyone else would have leapt at the chance, but no, I choose to help two ungrateful _Pop_ - _Dragons_. Here, have some _more_ candy for your trouble, since I inconvenienced you so much.” Even more brightly coloured bits went skittering along the floor. “Hpmth, Good-bye Bub and Bob, it hathn’t been fun. Don’t come begging to me later.”

Neither of them very sure about what they could do to try and fix whatever they’d done wrong they settled for just watching him as he pretended to tromp off back to _Sugar Rush_ , his nose up high, still murmuring something every once in a while like he was very infuriated indeed. 

Bob took a bite out of the round candy, mulling whatever had just happened over, but still not letting the King’s generosity go to waste.

“Do you really think he was mad at us?”

“Probably not, Kings have much more important things to worry about and get mad at than us. C’mon, let’s get all this candy collected; forget sleep, we can crash out later once the sugar wears off.” Without even giving the other a chance to count down they set about scrambling along to scoop as much candy as they could from the floor. Here they were, giggling as they went, the sounds echoing in the deserted station, while everyone else was stuck in their same old gaming routine.

Being homeless wasn’t so bad, as long as they stuck together, even if that _was_ being stuck as Bubble Dragons, they could get by. Besides, when even people who were _angry_ with them were giving them free food…how unlucky could they be? Maybe things were startingto look up for them after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so to clarify I few things. King Candy isn't being nice per se, rather that he thinks that Bub and Bob are the same ones that knew the Konami Code back in the day and are on to him, so he's trying to lure them into Sugar Rush so he can get them out of the way so that his plan doesn't get unraveled. He’s also suspicious because they don’t ask why he can understand the Bubble Dragon language, and takes that to mean that they know who he really is, since all the old retro characters know it like they know Q-Bertese, and he probably did know Bub and Bob back when he was Turbo. But nope, Bub and Bob are just too naïve and trusting, but still scared of cars so it doesn’t work out after all.
> 
> Also, I had to tweak the timeline a little so that the NES version of Bubble Bobble would have been released before Turbo crashed Roadblasters, but Roadblasters came out in 1987, whereas Nes Bubble Bobble came out in November 1988, so I had to change it so that Litwak bought Roadblasters a little late.
> 
> I also just assumed that Litwak had imported the 2010 arcade game Metal Gear Arcade, since it was only released in Japan and because of the ! being in the movie and that was the only Metal Gear game in arcades, so now Bub and Bob get to live in one of the boxes ^^
> 
> I feel sorry for Bub and Bob, I hope it all works out for them. Maybe I’ll write an epilogue one day.


End file.
